Hello Tech Support? I'm Still In National Treasure
by Padma The Q
Summary: Rachel, now 16, is back in the sequel to Technical Glitch. Will she punch Wilkinson before the story is over? Will Ben and the others find out about her former life? Read and find out. I said I would never do it. Guess that shows my resolve to good plots
1. Chapter 1

**I said I wouldn't but I did. I have begun writing a BOS sequel to Technical Glitch. I hope you all enjoy it. Sorry for any mistakes I am currently using the subtitles since there is no online transcript yet. I will try to get the updates out regularly. So without further ado, enjoy. :)**

This is a story about one Rachel C. Gates. Though her name didn't used to be Gates. But if you read another story entitled Technical Glitch you would know that. And this story isn't all about her either. Its about a treasure. One bigger than that of the Templar Treasure.

She was sitting in on one of Ben and Patrick's lectures. Not that she hadn't heard everything Ben was talking about several times already. She was his favorite speech tester. Still, it was the start of Book Of Secrets and she wasn't going to miss that.

He had just finished his speech and they were applauding. "I would like to thank Ben and Patrick Gates." Mr. Nichols began. "And say what a wonderful addition Thomas Gates is to out civilian heroes exhibit."

Patrick stepped up to the podium. "Thank you, Dr. Nichols. I only wish my grandfather had been here to see this wonderful day."

Just then from the back a man interrupted. "Excuse me. I have a question I'd like to ask." Ben and Patrick turned to him. "What do you think ever happened to that Booth Diary page that was pulled out of the fire?"

"We may never know." Ben answered.

"Perhaps." The man mused. "Perhaps not."

The crowd began murmuring. The man's face was now projected onto the big screen for all to see.

"You see, I have one of those great-great-granddaddies, just like you, way up in my family tree, name of Silas WIlkinson. He used to tell a story about the night Lincoln was shot. As Silas tells it, Booth didn't seek out Thomas Gates regarding the treasure map that night. It was Thomas who called the meeting."

Rachel rolled her eyes. Here it came.

"A meeting to plan the assassination of Lincoln."

"How absurd." She and Ben chorused. Here we go again.

The man got up and reached into his jacket. "Ladies and gentlemen I present to you..." He held out the half burnt page, suspended in a plastic cover. "...one of the missing pages from the infamous diary of John Wilkes Booth with the name Thomas Gates written on a list along with all the other killers."

After his little show the audience left, leaving them to figure out what in the name of Carson Beckett, may he rest in peace (the real one not the clone) was going on.

They carefully placed the page under the projector.

"Booth was a student of Latin. He shouted '_Sic Semper Tyrannis'_ after he shot Lincoln. Thus always to..."

Rachel cut him off. "Thus always to Tyrants.' we know."

"Surratt, copiae?" Nichols asked.

"Military supplies." Wilkensen replied. "Mary Surratt was convicted and hanged for supplying Booth with a rifle and field glasses."

Ben stepped closer to the screen.

"What if it was a setup?" She asked. They all turned to look at her. "Well, they didn't know that the diary pages would be burned. What if they wrote him into there in case they were caught. He would take the blame." She explained.

"Young lady you don't have any evidence to support that so if you don't mind we're rather busy."Wilkinson patronised.

She glared at him.

"Thomas Gates, artifex." Ben mused.

"Designer." Wilkinson added. "Or 'mastermind'"

"I know what it means." He said.

"He must have planned the assassination." He prodded.

"I see."

Patrick pipped up. "Could mean mastermind of anything." He walked over to the page and pointed to the burnt edge. "You see that? Burned out right there."

"I can only imagine how difficult this must be for you." Wilkinson sighed.

Rachel snorted. "You don't care about our family honor. Why do the villains always act like they care when its so obvious they don't?"

"Excuse me miss, 'our' family honor?" He asked.

She smiled and held out her hand. "Rachel C. Gates."

He shook her hand. "I didn't realise you had a daughter Mr. Gates. Pleasure to meet you Miss Gates."

Her smile changed to a glare. "I'm sure it is."

"May I Mr..." Mr Nichols pressed between them to get to the display case.

"Wilkinson."

"I'll see if this new page matches the Booth diary." He finished, taking out the book and going over to the projector.

"This is an outrage. You're calling my grandfather a liar." Patrick fumed.

"With respect, now you're calling my great-great-granddaddy a liar." Wilkinson rebuffed.

"Yes, sir, I am. This isn't some garbage from a history book. My grandfather told me this story himself. I saw the truth of it in his eyes." He argued.

"I'm sorry, sir. I truly am."

They all watched on bated breath as Nichols slid the pages together. It was a perfect fit. "We'll test this thoroughly, Patrick, to authenticate it." He assured.

"It can't be." Patrick whispered.

"Unfortunately it seems it can be." She sighed.

**Hope you all enjoyed it. Please review because they make me happy and I would like everyone's imput. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Woohoo, chapter two! Its kind of short but I don't have much time right now. I'll keep 'em coming. Enjoy:)**

Ben and Rachel stood in the doorway watching Patrick bustle around the room in front of them.

"Proof, proof, proof." He muttered.

"We'll figure this out Ben. I know it." She assured him.

"I hope your right." He replied. "Come on. We're going to see Riley."

He opened the white front door and they left. "You know hes at a book signing right?" She asked as they got into the car.

"Yeah, but I would rather stay out of the bookstore."

"I happen to love that bookstore."

"Yeah and if we go there to wait on Riley then we'll be there until they close."

"So?"

"So, its noon. They close at six. We'll go and wait at his apartment."

The two looked up from their books as the squeaking of wheels approached. Ben from a book on the Civil war and Rachel from The Lord Of The Rings.

"Hello Riley, wheres the Ferrari?" She asked, not looking up from the pages.

"Hey squirt. The IRS impounded it." He grouched. Though who wouldn't. It was a red Ferrari.

"The IRS?" Ben asked.

"Funny story. My accountant set up a corporation on an island that didn't exist and assured me that that's how rich people do it. Then I got audited and slapped with a huge fine plus interest." He said sarcastically, setting down the life size cardboard cutout of himself trying to look cool. "You wanna know what the taxes are on five million dollars? Six million dollars."

"Two words Riley. Second opinion." She said, closing her book with a thump.

Riley glared at her and shoved in between the two on the steps. "But enough about me. What's new with you?"

"Well, my girlfriend kicked us out..."

"You." She corrected.

"...me out, we're living with my dad, and my family killed President Lincoln."

Riley nodded. "All right."

"I need your help."

Okay, now she was mad. They left her behind at Patrick's house. She slid her jacket on over her save Carson Beckett tshirt and jogged down the stairs and into the living room where Patrick was watching looking through old boxes he had brought down from the attic earlier that day.

"Hey Patrick, I need to borrow the car for an hour or two, some friends want me to meet them for pizza." She said.

He threw down a stack of paper. "Pizza huh?"

"Yeah that place in town."

"Going after Ben and Riley aren't you? Be back in two hours."

She smiled and grabbed the keys off of the table by the door. "Thanks Patrick."

She parked the car out of sight and snuck up the walk. Riley and Ben had just slipped in the door. She could see Ben waiting for Riley to disarm the alarm system from her hiding spot behind the fountain. She took that moment to walk in.

"You know I have the code to the alarm you could have just asked me." She said closing the door.

Ben looked at her. "How did you get here?"

"Um..." She said, pretending to think. "I flew."

"Look go home and watch Stargate or something we have this covered."

She crossed her arms and lent against the wall. "Ben. Do you seriously think that's going to happen?"

Riley slipped the cover back on the box. Ben looked at his watch. "You did that in twenty five seconds."

"That's why I tell people to get a dog."

The threesome started up the stairs. "I keep trying to get a dog but Ben won't let me." She grumbled.

"You want a Husky. Do you know how expensive those animals are?" He replied

"Ben you do remember how much money you have don't you? Perhaps you forgot the whole Templar Treasure deal? Expensive to others is simple to you Mr. Five Percent of the treasure."

"Well right now we're living with my father and its not a good time to get a dog."

She rolled her eyes. "I wonder what excuse he'll use once we move." She mumbled.

They headed across the woven rugs to Abigail's study and Ben began to sift through the drawers, finally pulling out her ID badge.

Just then a car door slammed and they peaked out the window. A man had gotten out of a silver car and opened the passenger door for Abigail. She was home and they were busted...

**Hope you liked it. Don't forget to review. Tenna' ento lye omenta faithful readers. And a cookie for whomever figures out what I just said.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Arg, I've been lazy, that and hoping someone would make a transcript soon. No such luck so back to subtitles. Any, we're in the process of moving so it may be a couple weeks or so but I shall try.**

"I Cannot believe you broke in." Abigail said. "What did you take?"

"it's just my things." Ben replied.

Abigail snatched the box out of his hands, holding her hands out.

"Hand it over, Ben."

He sighed and reached into his pocket.

"He wants..." Rachel began.

Ben shot her a look.

"...Needs, to see the Booth diary page."

Abigail shook her head. "You saw the page yourself. There is not treasure map on it."

"No, It's a cipher leading to a map. Did anyone spectral-image the page?"

"No need to. The ink writing on the page is clearly visible."

"What if there's a residue of ink from the following page imprinted on it?" Rachel said

"Yeah, yeah, or it could have been erased or faded." Ben added

They followed Abigail down through the hallway to the parlor.

"You're the director of document conservation. You know all this." He continued.

"Not up to me. It's not my department."

"That department reports to your department." Ben argued. "Come on Abigail. One look under infrared. You can have the Boston Tea Tables"

Abigail paused in her steps. Rachel smirked and whispered to Riley. "He might just have done it."

Abigail turned around, her poker face was amazing.

"Both of them?"

An hour and a half, a very long hour and a half, later they still sat in the big fancy document room scanning the page. The beeping was getting truly annoying.

"We've been looking at this page for hours." Riley moaned.

"And hour and thirty-three minutes actually." Rachel corrected, referring again to her watch.

He turned around. "Well it feels like hours." He turned back to the screen. "There's nothing there."

Ben took of his glasses and rubbed his hand over his face.

"Ben, I really don't think we're going to find anything on this page." Abigail sighed.

"Well look at it this way, In a hundred years, no one's going to remember anyone involved in the Lincoln assassination besides Booth." Riley quipped.

Ben, his his hand resting on the bridge of his nose sighed. "That's not true. Do you know the expression, "His name is mud"?"

"Yes. Of course." Riley replied.

"You do? You know the origin on the expression?"

"Does anyone but you?"

Rachel cleared her throat. "Actually, I do. Dr. Samuel Mudd was convicted of being a co-conspirator in the Lincoln assassination. The evidence was circumstantial and he was later pardoned, but it didn't matter."

Ben finished for her. "Mudd's name still lives in infamy. And I will not let Thomas Gate's name be mud."

Riley turned to Rachel. "Ben told you that didn't he?"

"Someones gotta be the heir to knowing every bit of American history so the Poole family can always be told the neat little trivia facts."

"Funny, really."

Rachel smiled. "I try."

Suddenly Abigail leaned closer to the screen. "Ben."

"What?"

"Look at this." She said, pointing to a spot on the screen. "See that?"

"Oh."

Rachel pushed in on the other side of Abigail and Riley leaned over her shoulder.

"That's quite something, isn't it?" Rachel and Ben said in unison.

"Yeah. It says "smudge."" Riley said. Rachel threw her hand up and smacked him in the side of the head. Riley glared. "It's nothing."

Abigail hit a few buttons and the smudge became a bit more prominent.

"Residual ink from the facing page. Flip it."

"See, told you so now didn't I?" Rachel said happily. The excitement of a new discovery had brought her energy up a bit.

A few more buttons were hit and the page flipped to show the other side.

"It's a cipher." Ben said smiling.

"Yes. It is." Abigail added.

"A cipher. See how the letters are coupled? Playfair ciphers encode letters in pairs. This could prove his story."

'Unless you decode the cipher, this does not prove a theory."

"That's okay. We need a five-letter keyword." Ben going into thinking mode again, yay!

"What's the keyword?" Riley asked.

"I don't know yet." Ben replied simply.

"All right."

"Can I get a printout of this?"

"There's a billion words in the English language. There's got to be a logical...Lets start from the beginning. A. Aardvark..." Riley trailed off.

Abigail got up. "I don't want to rain on the two of yours parade here, but I don't think this is gonna stop Dr. Nichols from announcing the discovery of the page tomorrow."

"No, now, wait. Can't you ask him to wait until I prove Thomas is innocent?" Ben asked

"Either that our we can just knock him upside the head and stuff him in a broom closet." Rachel mumbled.

Ben turned around and pointed his finger at her. "Not an option."

She cocked her head.

He thought about it. "Yet, we'll see." He turned back to Abigail.

"What is he isn't innocent?" Abigail said, grabbing the printed page from the printer and handing it to him.

Rachel looked back at her watch. "Oh crap!"

Ben and Riley turned and looked at her. "I borrowed Patrick's car. He sad be back in two hours, its been four, and the car is still back at Abigail's."

"Well if he was worried he would have called." Riley reasoned.

She checked her pockets. "I forgot my phone, do you guys have yours?"

The two checked their pockets. Ben came up empty. Riley pulled his out and opened it.

"Whoops, out of battery."

Rachel groaned. Then Abigail walked back in, on her cell phone.

"Yes, she's right here. They're on their way home now. Bye." She closed the phone with a snap. "That was Patrick. He was a little worried when he couldn't reach you, Ben, or Riley so he called me. You three are in trouble."

All three groaned. They were going to get an ear full when they got back.

**I am again Betaless so sorry for mistakes. Bit of a bare chapter but I'll work on it. P.S. The Dark Knight rocks.**


	4. Chapter 4

**WOO, new chapter. I finally got to it. We're moved now and I should start having more time to write. Hope you enjoy the chapter.**

The next day Riley sat at the computer (as per usual) in the dining room going through five letter words. Ben stood behind him and Rachel... well Rachel was laying on her back on one of the exposed pieces of carpet.

"Bacon."

The computer beeped a bit.

"Keep going." Ben instructed.

"That's stupid." Riley mumbled. typing in baron.

More beeping.

"How's he doin?"

"Keep working." Ben said, walking into the study where Patrick sat watching a video on Msn.

"We're extremely grateful to the Wilkinson family for coming forth with the page. On the page is a name of a previously unknown conspirator, Thomas Gates."

Patrick looked up as Ben walked in, followed by Rachel.

"Nichols has bought into it. See this?"

"Dad would you stop watching that." Ben sighed, sitting in the chair across from his father.

"It's on the Internet. No stopping it now." He said, punching the mute button angrily. "They have no understanding."

"You know the truth. That's all that matters. You heard the story from Grandpa Charles."

"The story? This guy's got evidence. He's got everything. We have a story. We have nothing."

Rachel crossed her arms and lent against the wall. "Well I tend to trust your story over this Wilkinson dude and his stupid evidence."

"The rest of the world won't think the same. For one brief moment the Gates' family could hold its head up. Now we're a bunch of crazies."

"But we're not liars." Ben argued. "Look, Wilkinson is saying that Thomas Gates was a mastermind to one of the darkest hours in U.S. history. And he burned the diary page to cover that up."

"We all know he burned the page to keep Booth's men from finding the treasure." Rachel continued.

"That's what we're gonna prove." Ben finished. "Only one way to prove it."

"You're gonna have to find this treasure."

"You've gotta find it. You're going to help me find it."

Rachel coughed.

"Sorry, you're going to help _us_ find it. So come on, let's hear the story again from Grandpa Charles."

Patrick shifted. "Grandpa heard his father say, "Treasure map.". Then there was a commotion."

"Got all that. Was there anything after that? Anything he said, something he did? Anything at all?"

"Wait a minute..." Patrick said slowly.

"What." Rachel and Ben asked.

Patrick leaned foreword and put his elbow on the desk. "He took his hand."

Ben grabbed his hand.

"He looked him in the eye, and he said, with his dying breath, "The debt that all men pay."

"The debt that all men pay?" Ben echoed

"The debt that Thomas paid."

Rachel laughed happily. "That's five letters." She let how a cheer and ran back to where Riley was typing away.

"Its death!" She yelled, jumped up beside him.

"Yo, squirt, right in my ear, thank you."

"Whatever Riley, just try death."

He typed it in and the computer started beeping.

"L-A-B-O-U-L...It's Lab-ool...Lab-ahl...La...It's gibberish."

"It sounds French..." Rachel mused.

"Laboulaye!" Ben realised.

"And what is that?" Riley asked.

"It's a who." Ben said.

"What like the band?"

Rachel slapped him on the arm. "Edouard Laboulaye."

"Where's the phone?" Ben asked. "Rachel, do you have yours?"

"No, its upstairs...somewhere... Riley?"

Riley fished through his pocket and flipped it open. "Battery still dead, haven't had a chance to charge it."

Patrick sighed. "Whats the use of you two having those things if you don't ever charge them?"

"I charge mine...I just can't find it..." Rachel defended.

"At least I know where mine is." Riley grinned.

"Uh huh, too bad its nothing more than a toy. Can't you find one moment to charge it?" Rachel said.

"Children please." Patrick said. "I don't know where anything is in here. It's probably under a box."

"Temporary till we find a new place." Ben said, moving swiftly around the room.

"Find the old one. I like her."

Rachel looked under piles of paper, around stacks of books. Her eyes turned to Riley.

"What?" He asked.

"Get up." She ordered.

"No." He said, just to spite her.

She cleared her throat and cracked her knuckles. "Move it Riley." She said, shoving him off the chair and onto the floor. She was quite pleased with herself as she held up the black cordless phone. "You had been sitting there for hours and didn't realise you where sitting on the phone..." She sighed. "I found it."

Ben ran back over and took it from her, dialing. After a few moments they picked up. "We cracked the cipher. It's 'Laboulaye'."

She smiled. His treasure hunting 'we just found a big clue.' face was back.

"The cipher spells 'Laboulaye'."

She sighed, the whole half a conversation thing drove her crazy sometimes.

"Or maybe there was a treasure map like Thomas Gates said there was and Laboulaye had it. We only got a partial on the next word. L-A-D, lad...ladder."

"Aladdin! Aladdin?" Riley tried.

"Lady!" Rachel cried.

Ben turned and gave her an odd look, apparently her timing was good, she had a pretty good idea that she had said it at the exact time as Abigial. "Thank you, Abigail!"

Rachel grinned even wider. "Laboulaye Lady. Do you know what Laboulaye was planning right around the time Lincoln was assassinated?" Rachel yelled loudly enough so that the phone would pick her up.

"There's a map or a clue to a map on the Statue.." Ben paused and took the phone from his ear. "She hung up."

"She took your call. That was good." Patrick praised.

"You're saying there's a treasure map in the Statue of Liberty?" Riley asked.

"Laboulaye was a Mason. They built clues into everything." Patrick explained.

"Did you learn that from my book?" Riley asked him.

Rachel laughed. "No I think he already knew that. He's smart that way."

"So the only question is,"

"Which Statue of Liberty." Rachel finished

"Exactly." Riley said. "Is there more than one?"

"There are three actually, Riley." Patrick said. He turned to Rachel. "I don't supposed you know where they are?" He quizzed.

"That's easy. One is in New York of course. One in the Luxembourg Garden..."

"But there was only one that was his Lady." Ben finished.

Rachel threw her hand into the air. "To France!" She cheered.

**Hope you liked it, please R&R. Review make me happy :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Back again for another chapter. Its short but the next one I'm planning to be pretty darn big in comparison. Hope you enjoy :)**

Riley positioned the toy helicopter closer to the statue.

"This is like, impossible, what you're doing." Ben said.

'I'm glad you're enjoying it." Riley replied.

Rachel leaned foreword to get a better view. "Are you sure we're allowed to do this?"

Ben peaked around Riley. "Rachel, you helped steal the Declaration of Independence and you're worried about this?"

She shrugged.

"Laboulaye had to leave a clue somewhere on here. Move in on the torch." Ben instructed.

"Let me get there. It's not as easy as it looks."

"No. Believe me, I understand." Ben chided.

Rachel turned around and noticed two police officers stop and look at what they were doing. "Uh...guys."

One of the two spoke. Translated meaning excuse me sir. He spoke a bit more but she couldn't translate that.

Ben started across the street followed by Rachel.

"Excuse me, officer. May I help you?" He asked politely.

"Ah, American, eh?"

Rachel rolled her eyes.

"Of course you see no problem in disturbing every one's pleasant morning with your buzzing there."

"Hey. You know how much our constitution was influenced by your man, Montesquieu?" Ben asked

"You know Montesquieu?" The policeman said, obviously surprised by his knowledge.

"Montesquieu, yeah. "A government should be set up so that.." Ben started. "No man need be afraid of another." The man finished with him.

"That's very good."

"Thank you." Ben said happily.

Riley ran up, grinning and holding the helicopter. "I got it, I got it. I hope you read French." He said, handing the picture over to Ben.

The man held out his hand. "May I?"

Ben nodded and handed it to him.

"He's a cop." Riley muttered.

Rachel stomped on his foot.

"Um, ow."

"Saying stuff like that makes it sound like we're doing something illegal Riley, shut it."

"Um...Across the sea these twins stand determined..." He trailed off

"Resolute." The other man said.

"Resolute. yeah. He confirmed. "...to preserve what we are looking for. Uh...Laboulaye, 1876."

"It's a clue." Riley quipped.

"No duh Riley."

"These twins stand resolute." Ben mused. "Let's see. Resolute twins. Resolute. Resolute and then twins." He started pacing.

Rachel began pacing very similarly. "Siamese twins? Siam? Trade routs between France and Thailand?" She laughed. "That's ridiculous."

Ben smiled. "Not exactly. The_ HMS Resolute_. A British ship that got lost in the Arctic in the 1800s. It was salvaged by American whalers, and then Congress sent it back to England. When the ship was finally retired, Queen Victoria had two desks made from its timbers. Viola, resolute twins!"

"And where are those desks now?" The policeman asked.

Rachel rubbed her hand over her face. "The closest one is in London."

"Riley, how fast can we get to Buckingham Palace?"

Riley looked down at his shoes. "Don't know. Why don't you ask your new best friend?"

Rachel frowned at him. "Awww, does someone need a hug?" She said sweetly.

Riley stuck his tongue out at her.

The other officer walked away to the edge of the sidewalk.

"He's going to call you a cab." The other told them.

"Okay, French police officers officially rock." She grinned.

He then looked down to the helicopter Riley was holding. "Nice helicopter. Is that yours?"

"Yes, actually. It is." Riley said proudly.

"Ok, so you get the ticket."

Rachel burst out laughing.

"Great." he mumbled.

They soon got a cab and piled into the back. Rachel started dancing as well as she could while sitting in the middle. "We're going to England. We're going to England." She sang.

"Why are you so exited to go to England squirt?" Riley grumbled.

She didn't notice and kept dancing.

"Doctor Who is based around there. It's filmed in Wales actually but I think she's hoping to find a blue police box to hug." Ben explained.

Riley looked over. She was still dancing. "Is she ever going to stop?"

"Not likely. She's been asking to go to England for awhile now."

He groaned.

**Hope you all liked it. You all get free cookies if you've stuck with me this long. Please R&R because as any writer would know, good reviews rock!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay, I sat down for a hour and a half straight to finish this. I've been quite looking forward to this chapter. Enjoy :)**

**And also I would like to give huge HUGE thanks to The Angelic Prophecy who supplied me with a transcript so I wouldn't have to continue with subtitles. You saved me so much trouble!**

They all huddled around Riley's laptop in one of the hotel rooms as he explained the setup.

"So the queen's office is here. The elevator shaft gets you close, but the only direct access is through security."

"That should be exciting."

"Very." Rachel mumbled. Just then her cell rang. "Hello?"

"Rachel it's Patrick." Was the reply.

"Oh hi, hows it going?" She asked, mouthing who it was to Ben.

"Not well. The house was broken into last night. I was attacked."

"Someone broke into your house?!" She cried.

Ben spun around. "What? What does he mean the house was broken into?"

She put the phone on speaker.

"Dad, all the police. We're coming home."

"What happened?" Riley asked.

"What good would that do? They didn't take anything. And besides, I'm fine."

Ben rubbed his hand across his face. "Okay. We're in London. We're going to Buckingham Palace. We have an appointment with the curator tomorrow afternoon."

Ben didn't notice Rachel waving her hands around to get him to stop saying where they were going but it didn't work.

"Son, just be careful. Goodbye."

Rachel groaned.

"Someone else is after the treasure."

"Way to state the obvious Ben." Rachel sighed.

"Of course someone else is after the treasure. It's the axiom of treasure hunting."

"We need to make sure we see that desk before Wilkinson does." She said.

Riley turned to her. "How do you know it's Wilkinson?"

Oops. Obviously they weren't sure yet. Think think think... "Well it makes sense doesn't it? He brought the page out. Why? So he could get a few kicks? No, he's after good old fortune and glory."

Ben sat down. "She's right. And she needs to cut back on the Indiana Jones movies."

"Do you want me to convulse? Too long without Harrison Ford can be fatal you know."

Ben and Riley just shook their head and went back to work.

She didn't realize it was morning until Ben threw open the heavy curtain of her room. She had slept terribly. "Time to get up. I see you tactfully disarmed your alarm clock last night."

"What time is it?"

"Six thirty." He told her.

"They make one of those in the morning too?" She grumbled, quoting Gilmore Girls.

"As a matter of fact they do. Now, we have to pick up the car and get to Buckingham Palace before one."

"Lovely. Cya in a few hours." She said, pulling the puffy comforter over her head.

Ben sighed and gripped the bottom of the blanket, giving it a jerk. Unfortunately it didn't have the effect he wanted. She was sleeping on satin sheets in, guess what? Satin pajamas. So instead of the blanked coming off alone she came with it and barreled into his legs, knocking him over.

"Okay...ow. What were you thinking?" She snapped, pulling herself up and rubbing her head.

He got up and straightened his shirt. "How was I supposed to know you were wearing satin pajamas? Look, I'm sorry, but we have to go if we want breakfast. One hour." He finished before leaving.

"One of these days I'll get him back for that. He enjoyed that way more than he let on." She mumbled, grabbing some clothes out of a drawer and shuffling off to the bathroom. Inside she plugged in her Ipod in the most wonderful shower speakers and cranked up her Batman Begins soundtrack. And she enjoyed every minute of it.

Later, after breakfast they went and picked up the rental car. The entire time she kept eying the large Hummer at the end of the lot. Oh how much easier that car would make the end of the day. Ben parked the car across the street from the Palace and turned to look at her.

"Okay, Rachel I want you to do something very important. I want you to guard the car."

Rachel raised her eyebrow. "You just watched The Mummy Returns didn't you? Seriously Ben I can do this. And besides, there is no way you can keep me here. I'll just follow you in anyway."

He sighed. "Never mind. Come on."

She smiled and got out, following them inside. Riley went off to the bathroom to set up and she followed Ben up the stairs. They stopped at a table and Ben got out the earpieces. He handed one to her and reached into his pocket for the small bottle of whiskey. He dabbed it on the sides of his face and put a bit on his tongue. He then slipped the bottle back into his pocket.

"Ben."

They looked at each other and then turned around to face the voice.

"Abigail."

"Abigail? What's she doing here?" Riley asked.

"What're you doing here?" Ben asked her.

"You dad called me. Said your next clue was here."

"She's really there?" Riley prodded.

"Ben..." Abigail began.

"Drop her. Lose her." Riley continued.

"You want to help." Rachel finished for her.

"That's very nice, but it's a bad time right now." Ben whispered.

"A bad time, right now?"

"It's a bad time." He assured.

"Okay, I just flew all the way to London to offer my help..." Abigail started.

"Remember the plan." Riley told them.

"You don't need it?"

Rachel stepped back and found a good spot for the show.

"You're the one making a scene." Ben mumbled.

"I...I'm not making a scene right now."

"Wait, we want to make a scene." Riley said.

"Well then, fine! If that's what you want, let's have it out now!" Ben yelled.

"Ah, so subtle." Riley sighed. Rachel chuckled.

"Let me guess? It's the wrong time. It's the wrong place. I'm wrong again!" He started down the stairs stepping high. "Wong about us, wrong about Thomas Gates, wrong that you'd like the Queen Ann chair!"

Rachel could barely keep herself from bursting out laughing.

"You're wrong to assume I'd like the chair." Abigail argued.

"You see? Everybody, listen to this." He threw his arm over a man's shoulders and turned him around. "This is more interesting than that. She thinks that even when I'm right, I'm wrong! Isn't that right? Abigail, just because I answer a question quickly doesn't make it wrong."

"Not if the answer's something we need to figure out as a couple. That's what couples do, Ben!" She yelled down at him.

A guard came up behind Ben. "Sir, you and your misses, take it outside."

"Now look what you've done. You've brought the little bobbies down on us!" He turned to the guard. "You take the misses outside. I'm staying right here." He said and threw one leg over the banister.

"Ben!" Abigail called.

"Whee!" Ben squealed as he slid down the banister. It was a rather good impression of herself when she found the blue police box outside their hotel the night before.

Another guard awaited him at the bottom. "Good afternoon, sir."

"'Ello."

"Been drinking, have we?" The guard asked.

"Just a nip. Popped down to the pub for a pint! Bit of all right! Going to arrest a man for that? Going to detain a blighter for enjoying his whiskey?" He said, throwing in a terrible English accent.

Abigail then noticed the ear piece in his ear.

"Enough." The guard ordered.

"Bangers and mash. Bubbles and squeak. Smoked eel pie." Ben rattled off.

"Sir!"

"Haggis!" He yelled.

The guard had enough. "That's it! Dismount the banister!"

Abigail was taken by the arm, followed by Ben who had begun singing. "I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts! Here they are, standing in a row! Small ones, big ones, some as big as your head!"

Rachel snickered as they were taken through security.

"That was brilliant." She and Riley laughed.

"Okay Rachel, outside to the car." Ben whispered across the channel.

She frowned and complied. She really had known that the likely hood of her actually replacing Abigail in them getting into the study was minimal but she had still hoped. Of course there was a large part of her that had just wanted to see Ben's performance live.

She got out to the car and plopped into the driver's seat. The ear piece started bugging her and Ben and Abigail were discussing the whole relationship thing anyway. Something that she felt was a bit private so she took the piece out and put it in her purse. Now was just the long wait for them to get it and get out. After a few minutes she figured they were done and getting to the interesting part so she stuck it back in. She was just in time to hear Riley.

"Uh-oh. Mayday. Mayday. Ben, get out of there.Okay, let's make some noise."

She looked through the windshield and saw people start to flood out.

"Uh-oh. God save the queen." Riley said.

She smiled. Fire alarm. "You are absolutely brilliant Riley."

"I know."

A few minutes later she saw Ben, Abigail, and Riley approach. They were holding an old chunk of wood. She looked past them and saw a face she wasn't to happy to see. Furiously she began pointing from her place in the car. Ben finally looked behind him. He urged them to the car and Riley flew in next to her.

"I'll drive." His hands poised to where the steering wheel should have been.

"We're in England Riley." Ben and Rachel said in unison.

"It's a gun! Get down!" Ben yelled.

They all ducked down beneath the windows.

Somewhere in her mind she wondered how she forgot that she really shouldn't have been sitting in the place she was in.

"We're trapped!" Riley yelled.

"Hang on! Keep your heads down. Rachel, backup using the camera on the rear of the car."

She put the car in reverse and began backing up, only to slam on the breaks so she wouldn't hit a group of dogs.

"Rachel, punch it!" Riley screamed.

"I'm going, I'm going! Keep your ruddy shorts on."

She slammed her foot down and pulled onto the main road. They flew around corners to avoid the range rover gaining on them from behind.

"They're getting closer." Abigail said.

"Yeah, thanks. That's really helping right now guys." She said through clenched teeth.

She turned down a small street that was full of pedestrians.

"What is their problem?" Riley asked.

"Well obviously this isn't a street you're supposed to drive on." She snapped. She honked the horn and inched foreword.

Riley started hitting her on the shoulder rapidly. "Rachel, go!"

She looked into the mirror and saw a huge truck barreling through the road behind them. It snapped lamps off the side of the buildings as it went.

"Did I just run over a man's foot?!" She squealed.

"Never mind that now just go!" Ben told her.

Luckily for them the sight of the truck sent the people flooding the street into the buildings and cleared the path for them. She punched it and popped out the end but didn't turn in time and they slammed into the side of a bus. Her head rebounded into the side of the door. The car was relatively unscathed considering. All the windows on the left of the car had shattered though.

"Great, I went to London and all I got was this lousy concussion." Rachel yelled, slamming her foot down again.

Suddenly there was a ringing noise that wasn't coming from her head

"What is that? Some one's phone?" Riley asked.

"Oh, shu..." Abigail said. "It's him."

She handed Ben the phone. "Mitch, this has got to end before someone gets hurt."

He placed it on speaker phone. Like she needed any more distractions.

"Give me what you got a Buckingham Palace, It won't be necessary." Wilkinson said.

"Tell that to my father." Ben said, clicking the phone off. "Does this phone have a camera?" He asked.

"No. No, it's broken." Abigail replied.

"All right. Rachel, take the plank. You're going to run a red light."

By this time she was completely shaken. "Bu..but you told me to never run a red light. You swore you would take away every electronic device in my room if you got a picture of me running a red...ohhhhhh. Okey-dokey Ben Gates. One red light coming up."

She took the plank from him and held it in front of her face, leaving her eyes visible. They flew through the intersection, barely missing a few cars along the way.

"Hack into the London Police database and get the picture from that traffic cam." Ben told him.

"Okey-dokey." Riley snapped.

They started across the bridge.

"You can't do it?" Ben asked.

"No, I can do it. I just don't like that you assume that I can." He retorted.

"Why, thank you Riley." Abigail said happily.

Wilkinson pulled up next to them and opened the window. Rachel gave Ben back the plank and he lent out of the car to give it to him. Then, at the last second he threw it over the car and into the water. Wilkinson stopped and they went on.

Not the England adventure she had in mind. Though her's involved the rift and a certain Doctor.

**Hope you all liked it. I had fun writing it. The car chase isn't exactly how it was in the movie I know, but its a rather hard thing to write out. I hope I did it well enough for you guys. **

**Now please, you know how I like my review :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Yes I admit it. I am lazy, I am lazy, I am lazy. For those of you who still read this thank you, and you are in for a fun chapter. Hehe, you'll see at the end. Once again a thanks to Angelic Prophecy for sending me a transcript of BOS for I apparently had lost it. Foolish me. Anyway enjoy the chapter!**

The group sat in Patrick's living room while he looked over the picture they had taken of the plank.

"I can't read the whole thing, but I can tell you that these are definitely pre-colonial Native American markings." Patrick said.

"Easily five-hundred years old." Ben added.

"Easily. I can identify one symbol." Patrick continued. "Look at this. Do you know what that is?" He said pointing to one of the symbols in the picture.

"Sacred calendrical? I don't know." Ben said.

"Thats the symbol for Cibola isn't it?" Rachel said, peering over Patrick's shoulder.

"Cibola." He confirmed. "The city of gold."

Ben then dug through one of the many boxes and took out a stack of books, dumping them on the coffee table. Rachel grabbed one from the bottom of the stack and handed it to him.  
"Looking for this one?"

He nodded and took it from her, opening it up to a spot near the middle. "In 1527, a Spanish ship wrecked on the Florida coast. There were only four survivors. One was a slave named Esteban who saved a local tribe's dying Chief. As a reward, he was taken to their sacred city, a city build from solid gold. Later, when Esteban tried to find the city again, he never could. But the legend grew, and every explorer came to the New World in search of it. When General Custer's search for gold ended in his last stand at Little Bighorn, it became clear none would ever find it."

"Ben, can you imagine if the Confederates got their hands on the City of Gold...My god."

"Patrick, you know what we have to do now." Rachel said, plopping down onto the couch.

"I'm going to talk to her. And you're coming with me." Ben said.

"No!" Patrick exclaimed.

"No one else can translate it Patrick. Not for ancient Native American. She's the best and you know it." She sighed.

"It's been, what? Twenty-five years."

"Thirty-two." Ben corrected.

"That long? There's a reason we haven't spoken in thirty-two years. We have nothing in common."

Rachel laughed. "Yes of course, the child you had together isn't something you have in common at all."

"Who?" Riley asked her and Abigail as Ben and Patrick continued on.

Abigail smirked. "His mom."

They walked down the university hallway past the bustling students rushing from class to class.

"Will you relax? It's gonna be fine." Ben told his dad.

"Sure. Should look at the bright side. Been a long time. Maybe she lost her memory, won't recognize me."

Suddenly a girl burst through the door they were heading towards. "I hate her!" She said angrily.

Rachel grinned. "I love her."

"We're in the right place." Patrick said.

Riley backed up. "I'm gonna take myself out of the line of fire for this one."

"Wimp." Rachel mouthed over her shoulder as she headed in after the others.

"Hi, mom." Ben greeted.

"Benjamin! Abigail! What a surprise!" Emily said. "Oh and Rachel too. Hello, sweetheart."

Patrick came in last.

"Oh." Emily said.

"You see?" Patrick said. "One syllable, a knife in the heart. Oh, no. She can do that."

"I can also track the whereabouts of my toothbrush." Emily spat back.

"I was not the one that left the toothbrushes in Marrakesh. I stowed them both in the travel case, as instructed."

"Yes, and you also insisted on loading the luggage into the taxi."

"I didn't insist. I loaded the luggage."

"Not the travel case."

"A travel case is not luggage. The case goes into the luggage. Who was in charge of packing?"

"I couldn't get the case into the luggage. It was full with that stupid rug you bought. You thought it had some secret stitching. How stupid was that?"

"It did have stitching. Six phony green leather suitcases...."

"Mom." Ben interrupted. "I need you to take a look at this."

He handed the picture to her. "What is that a picture of?" She said slipping her glasses on. "It's interesting."  
"We're pretty sure that it's Olmec." Rachel said.

"It is. Yes, yes, definitely proto-zoquean."

"We were hoping that you could translate it." Patrick said hopefully.

"Yes, of course you were." Emily said, looking up at him. "Oh, this doesn't involve another treasure hunt, does it?

"Mom, this is actually very important."

"Alright. What have we got here? This...this glyph here, that means "bird." And that means...

Uh, "noble bird." Yes. "Find the noble bird, let him take you by the hand and give you passage to the sacred temple." She chuckled. "You think this is a treasure map for Cibola, don't you?"

"Well, that is exactly what it is. "Patrick said.

"No, this glyph doesn't mean "Cibola." It means "The center of the world."

"You know, you used to like it. She fell in love with me on a treasure hunt."

"That was not love. That was excitement, adrenaline, and tequila. I was trying to get course credit."

"Treasure hunting paid off, in case you haven't read the papers."

"That had nothing to do with you. That was Ben. Ben found the treasure you did nothing!"

"Emily, Patrick, will the two of you please stop arguing like two Hobbits over a mushroom?" Rachel sighed. "We really need to figure out whats going on with the plank."

If not for her use of such phrasing constantly they might have been puzzled by her use of 'Hobbits over mushrooms.' bit.

"Well, that's it I'm afraid. These glyphs are only partials. So you only have half a treasure map. I"m sorry." She then looked back over to Patrick. "Not that I'm surprised."

They left Emily and exited the building, walking over the grounds towards the car.

"At least we know where the rest of the map is." Rachel said happily.

"What? You know where it is? Why didn't you tell me?" Patrick asked.

"Obviously you have a tendency to overreact!" Ben yelled.

"I'm sorry."

"So am I." Ben replied.

"So where is it?"

"The inscription on the statue in Paris said, "These twins stand resolute." We think the map's divided between the two Resolute desks." Ben explained.

"The Resolute desk. _The_ Resolute desk? President's desk?"

"The president? What president?" Riley asked, puzzled. "Our president?!"

"No of course not Riley. The president of the undersea world of Youaredense. Yes of course _our_ president!"

"But that means...Wait, so we have to...The White House?" Riley groaned.

"The Oval Office...to be exact." Ben said.

"Why would I overreact to that?" Patrick shrugged.

Once again they were back in the living room as Ben flipped through books. "The Resolute desk is near the south wall in the Oval Office." Ben said.

Riley was on his laptop on the White House's website. "Guys, take a took at this." He said scrolling down. There was a banner promoting the ticket sales for the Easter Egg Roll.

"I believe it's time for you to make a date with your new boyfriend." Ben told Abigail.

"I think you're right."

Ben, Abigail, and Rachel walked over the lawn of the White House through the festivities.

"Is that Conner in the bunny suit?" Ben asked as it hopped by, giving Abigail a little stuffed bunny.

"I've never been to an Easter Egg Roll. It's kinda sweet." Abigail said.  
Rachel rubbed her forehead. "I think all the happiness and cheer is giving me a headache."

"Hey, I know you." A young boy said as they passed. "Your great-great-grandfather killed President Lincoln."

"No. That would be John Wilkes Booth." Ben corrected.

"Eisenschiml says that Booth was a tool in a greater conspiracy that involved men in Lincoln's Cabinet." The kid argued.

"Absurd." Rachel snapped. "Eisenschiml's book is filled with spotty research and false assumptions. Perhaps if you had a brain in that tiny..."

Ben clamped his hand over her mouth.

"Oh, yeah? Explain why Lincoln's bodyguard left his post that night?"

The argument was getting louder.

"Because President Lincoln was never accompanied by guards when attending the theater. Listening?" Ben began.

"Especially on Good Friday!" Rachel and Ben said in unison."

"Explain why all the bridges out of Washington were closed except one, the one Booth needed to escape?"

Ben then realized the scene they were making a straightened up. "Okay, run along now, you impossible child. Run along."

The kid frowned and stuck his tongue out at them.

"What is going on with the education in America?" Ben asked them.

Rachel shook her head. "There is a good reason why I choose homeschooling."

"Hey! Hey! Conner!" Abigail called.

Conner jogged up to her. "I'm so glad you decided to come..." He then say Rachel and Ben. "with Gates."

"We just ran into each other." Abigail explained.

Ben looked at her. "Aren't you going to ask him?"

"Ask me what?"

"Nothing." Abigail said quickly.

"Well, what she means is she doesn't think you can."

"Doesn't think I can what?" Conner asked.

"She wants to see the Oval Office." Rachel told him.

"No. That is way to much to ask." Abigail said.

"No, It's, uh...I can do that." He said reluctantly.

"Really?" Abigail said happily. "That is so cool Conner. I have always wanted to see the Oval Office." She took his arm and they began to walk. Rachel and Ben followed.

"Conner rocks." They said.

Ben paused and turned to her. "You stay out here. We don't need a whole tour group of people. Hang around. And please don't pelt anyone with hardboiled eggs." He begged and then walked off.

"I can't promise your safety once you come back." She mumbled.

She tapped her foot on the grass and stared down at the light flower pattern on her skirt. What was a sixteen year old to do at an Easter Egg Roll when her two options were to join in the small children for face painting and egg rolling (hence the name of the event) or the adults for meaningless chatter where few would enjoy her _special_ sense of humor.

Then she heard a familiar voice behind her. "You and your dad are completely wrong about the Lincoln assassination. You're probably just embarrassed that your relative killed one of the best presidents in history."

She pursed her lips and quickly thought up a good rebuttal. She turned and lent down to the kid.

"I think that you should walk away very quickly and head to the nearest library and do some research into what really happened that night before I am forced to harm you in a way that would then harm my future and probably your ability to grow further. The hardest part will be finding a good spot to hide the body. But you're so small it shouldn't be as hard as that time I needed a spot for the man at the end of my street."

"I'm so scared." The kid spat.

Okay, now she was mad. She glared a glare that would have fried a dozen eggs and stood at her tallest. "Do you think it wise boy? Crossing words with a teenage girl twice you size who is wearing heals with an unlimited supply of ammunition at her disposal? Now walk away before you find yourself a walking omelet."

The kid once again stuck his tongue out at her and walked away.

Oh what an urge she got. An urge she could not refuse, no matter what Ben had said. She sidestepped twice to a table that held the eggs for the roll and took one in her hand. Ever second lost the kid got farther away. Aiming carefully she zeroed in on the target. With a swift toss the egg flew through the air in a beautiful arch and smacked hard into the back of the kid's head. The egg shattered and bits of it clung to his hair. "Karma. I do not make the laws, simply deal out the punishments." She said and with a smug look on her face she turned and walked away.

**Cookies for all who are still with me! (Mushrooms, Lembas, and salted pork are on the second table for the Hobbits, Elves, and Dwarves among us)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Okay, I feel terrible about not updating. The story will be finished, no matter how long it takes! Don't forget, reviews rock!**

The five of them stood out by the car as Bruce showed them the picture he had taken.

"Empty. Someone must've taken it." Ben said.

"Brightest men in our country sat at that desk for over a hundred years. Course one of 'em found the map." Patrick reasoned.

"Look. A symbol stamped into the wood. " Ben said.

"The presidential seal." Patrick observed.

"It's not the presidential seal." Abigail said. "You see the eagle's holding a scroll instead of olive branches."

Riley began pacing and then paused. "Did none of you read my book? The eagle clutching the scroll."

"Do you know what it means?" Ben asked.

"Yeah. But it's not something I could tell you. It's something that I have to show you...in my book."

Ben went and opened then back of the car, sifting through boxes, and pulled out a package.

"You didn't even open it?" Riley said, disappointed.

"I was moving, and it isn't mine." Ben told him, handing it to Rachel.

She took it and slit the side open.

"Oh come on squirt you at least could've opened it!" He whined.

She shrugged. "I was moving, and I was in the middle of rereading the Lord of the Rings."

"Since when are you not." Riley mumbled. "Chapter 13."

She flipped through the pages. "The President's Secret Book?"

"The President's Secret Book. It happens to be a collection of documents for presidents, by presidents, and for presidents eyes only. And I'm not just talking about JFK here, guys. The eighteen and a half missing minutes of the Watergate tapes. Did the Apollo really land on the moon? Did it? And the coup de grace...Area 51."

Abigail laughed. "Come on, Riley. That's....that's an urban legend."

"Is it Abigail? Is it?"

"It's just totally..."

"Crazy?"

"Yeah."

"Hm. Cause last time I checked we pretty much make out living on crazy."

"He's got a point." Ben and Rachel said, looking intently at the pages of the book.

"I guess so." Abigail shrugged.

"Same symbol." Patrick said, pointing at a picture on the following page.

"Released in '66 under the Freedom of Information Act. The eagle and the scroll, the secret symbol in the President's Book."

"So you're saying that whatever was on that plank is now in the President's Secret Book?" Patrick confirmed.

Ben lent up against the side of the car thoughtfully.

"Ben. If it was you trying to convince me...you'd have less evidence and I'd already believe you by now."

Ben sat in the leather chair with a troubled look on his face. "All I need is a few minutes with him."

"A few minutes? Really?" Riley said. "Ben, even if you were married to the President you wouldn't be able to get a few minutes with him."

"Not when he's surrounded by handlers. If I get him alone..."

"How do you expect to get the president alone?" Riley argued.

"Before the Civil War, the states were all separate. People used to say, "The United States are." Wasn't until the war ended people started saying "The United States is.' Under Lincoln...we became one nation."

"And Lincoln paid for it with his life." Patrick said.

"So did Thomas Gates. With his life. So how am I gonna get him alone?"

Rachel smirked. "We're gonna kidnap him."

"We're gonna kidnap the president of the United States." Ben agreed.

Patrick, Abigail, and Riley exploded. Not literally though because that would be to messy and gory for a Disney film. The three began to yell at the two of them. In all fairness they had a right to.

"Alright!" Rachel said loudly. "At least listen to the man's plan first before you try to stop us." She paused and looked over at Ben. "...You do have a plan right?"

"I was thinking Mount Vernon."

"Oh." Patrick said thoughtfully.

"What?" Abigail asked.

"I'm in." Riley said lazily.

The rest of the afternoon was filled with calls as they began their evil plan.

Ben and Rachel slipped into the cold waters of the river and swam unnoticed under the water past the security and up onto the bank. They pulled off their gear quickly. Rachel was already wearing a white blouse and pulled out her lavender skirt from the waterproof bag, and slipped it on over the tight leggings she was wearing.

"Maybe one day I'll wear this thing to a party I was actually invited to." He said as he pulled off his wet suit.

"Likewise."

Ben removed the the bottle of wine and two glasses along with the antique map in its case.

"Don't forget your shoes." He reminded her.

"Ben I am of the female race and you suspect me to forget shoes?"

He shook his head and walked up to the party. She slipped silently across the bank further down before heading up. As soon as she could be seen by the secret service agent she began her act.

"Oh, my god. The bathroom is so not that way. I nearly got lost" She said, putting up the dramatic ditsy teenage act. "Seriously why would anyone try to confuse me?" She whined.

She agent shook his head and directed her towards the nearest restroom. Once she was past him she laughed to herself. Her act must be pretty convincing. They'd never know.

_Gates, Rachel Gates._ She thought. International woman of mystery. Perhaps she was getting a little full of herself...

She met up with Ben a minute or so later.

"Any problems?" He asked.

"Nope, worked like a charm. You?"

"Went well." He spotted the president. "Come on."

They walked through the crowd, passing the president. "Happy Birthday." Ben said as they passed.

"Thank you." The president said, walking on.

"Ben Gates. The Templar treasure." He introduced.

The president stopped and turned to covers with them. "Oh, right, Ben Gates."

"Oh, and this is my step daughter Rachel." He introduced.

She shook his outstretched hand.

"I can't tell you what a thrill it is for us to be invited here tonight, sir." Ben told him.

"Yeah, you must have the Secret Service hopping about now." The president said.

"Sir?" Ben said, looking slightly concerned and covering it with confusion.

"Considering your discovered lineage."

He was relieved. "Oh, yeah." He took out the folded map. "I beg your pardon, sir, but I know what a huge admirer you are of George Washington. I thought you might want to take a look at this." He said, unfolding it. "Have a look at that."

"This is a map of Mount Vernon drawn by George Washington himself."

"Mr President that is exactly what it is." Ben said happily.

"Architectural history major at Yale." He told them.

"I did not know that." Ben replied, turning his attention back to the map. "It belonged to my great uncle. Got it from the granddaughter of a slave named Charlotte who lived here and worked here at Mount Vernon."

Rachel reached her arm over Ben's and pointed to a spot on the map. "We're standing right here sir."

The president was intrigued. "This line is an underground tunnel, an escape route that was never found. I wonder...I wonder if it's still there."

"Only one way to find out sir." Ben said.

"Maybe we should take a look." The president suggested.

"Are we allowed to do that?" Ben asked, then laughed. "I mean, I know you're allowed to do that. You're the president. Can we come with you?"

The president agreed and they followed the map down to an old cellar. The president looked at all the security. "You guys are just everywhere."

"Yes sir." One of the guards said.

"Give my friend you flashlight."

The guard complied and Ben flicked the light on.

"According to this map, it should be...It's one...two. I'm here." The president said, stopping in front of on of the openings.

"Yeah, should be in here. May we?" Ben said.

"Absolutely."

Ben and Rachel ducked their head and crawled inside. "Hope you don't like those shoes." Ben told her.

"No worries."

"Aren't those the ones dad got you for Christmas."

"I'd rather not comment if it's all the same to you."

The president joined them and they scanned the walls. "Over here." He said. "That's the mark of George Washington. Only it's slightly different."

"The axes, the angle's off." Rachel said. "For it to correspond with the ones on the map, it should form a perfect V."

The president looked at her quizzically. "I was just about to say that."

Ben looked over at him. "She tends to do that a lot." He moved the ax and the two formed a V. "Okay, what else?"

"The arrowhead...is sideways." The president said, turning the piece.

The wall lurched and dirt fell from the crevices. "We're alright. Don't worry." The president called out to the guards.

Ben and the president heaved at the wall and it slid to the side, revealing a long passageway. "Look at that." Ben marveled.

"Come on." The president said, entering the passage.

She moved to follow Ben but he stopped her. "You're not coming." He said quietly.

"But..."

"Go back to the gear and get to the opposite shore, dad's waiting with the car."

"You have no choice in this matter." She said, pushing past him and shutting the wall behind her. "Now I'm stuck in here. To bad, lets go."

"Gates, what are you doing?" The president asked when he saw the wall shut.

"I'm sorry Mr. President. I need to ask you a question, which I know you can't answer unless we're alone."

The president began walking down the tunnel and Ben continued. "Mr. President, sometime between 1880, when the Resolute desk was placed in the oval office and now, one of out presidents found a secret compartment in the desk."

From there, Rachel took over. "Hidden inside was a plank with Native American writing on it. A treasure map to Cibola, the legendary City of Gold."

"All this just to ask me about a treasure map?" The president asked.

Rachel shrugged.

"The map is a key to proving Thomas Gates' innocence. I now for a fact that the plank is no longer in the Resolute desk."

"You've been in my desk too?"

"It was all him. He left me outside to deal with the child of doom."

"Speaking of that, no Stargate for a week."

"It was hardboiled, not fresh or anything. Though fresh would have been more fun." She mused. "Anyway, we believe the whereabouts of that plank is now hidden in the President's Book."

The president paused and looked back at them.

"The book known only to our presidents. It contains all of our nation's secrets." Ben said. They had reached a terminal containing several passageways.

"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever head."

"Your face says otherwise sir." Rachel said.

Ben turned to her. "Now would be a good time to stop talking." He turned back to the president. "I saw the seal in the desk sir. I know the map exists.

"You're not going to tell me how to get out of here unless you get what you want." The president figured.

"The way out is that direction." Ben said, pointing to one of the passageways. "And I'll show you."

"You don't negotiate very well do you?"

"He never does." Rachel shrugged.

They walked down the passageway and paused in another terminal.

"I don't get you Gates. You do all this you're willing to go to prison just to clear your ancestor's name."

Rachel pointed to a set of stairs. "The way out is just down there."

"Everything I am is because of my ancestors sir. Thomas Gates gave his last full measure of devotion to his country to stop the KGC. When someone dies for their country, I believe they should be honored."

The president paused. "'Last full measure of devotion'"?

"Lincoln is my favorite president, no offense." Ben said.

"None taken." He said, heading down the stairs. "He's my favorite too."

They followed the president out through a gate and into the fresh night air.

"Sir, I know the book exists and my question is. Will you agree to let us see it?"

"Even if something like that really did exist, who do you think I would actually just give it to you."

"Because it will probably lead us to the discovery of the greatest Native American treasure of all time. A huge piece of culture lost. You can give that history back to its descendants. And because you're the president of the United States sir. Whether by innate character, or the oath you took to defend the Constitution, or the weight of history that falls upon you. I believe you to be an honorable man sir."

"People don't believe that stuff anymore." The president said,

"They want to believe it."

Rachel shook her had. "You have to be careful what kind of questions you ask him, you're often bound to get some great speech. I'm still trying to catch him practicing them in front of a mirror."

Ben looked at her. "I though I told you to stop talking."

"Since when has that stopped me?" She looked at the president. "The nearest highway is that direction." She pointed to the right. "You'll understand if we part here." She said.

"Actually the nearest highway is in the direction." Ben corrected, pointing to the left. "You just have no sense of direction." They began walking away but the president stopped them.

"The following conversation never happened. The book exists."

"Where is it?" Ben asked.

"Where else do you keep a book? In the Library of Congress. X, Y, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 6."  
"Thank you sir."

"You'll also need to know 3, 7, 9, 4.

They began to walk off and again were stopped.

"Two hundred people know you held me against my will. I can't tell them why unless you find what you're looking for. You'll be charged with kidnapping the president. You know what that means."

"Yes sir. Very much so sir."

"I want you to do something for me. It would be a privilege. Page 47. Just have a look at that."

Ben nodded and they headed off through the trees to where Patrick waited with the car. They got in and Ben got out his phone. "I can't believe it, the battery's dead."

Rachel smiled and reached over his seat, handing him her phone. "Here ya go."

"Thank you." He dialed. "Riley, meet us at the Library of Congress in twenty minutes."

**Hope you liked it! Thanks for sticking with me! Oh, an sorry for mistakes, I still don't have a beta...**


	9. Chapter 9

**Okay, a few things. Serious laziness on my part, that's for sure. Though I have an excuse for the few weeks around the beginning of May, my sister got married and we had a lot to do. But that doesn't excuse all the other time I've spent away from this story. Lucky lucky, I reread it tonight...or rather morning since it is now 1:47 am. I then realized how long it had been and got working. As I have said before. This story will eventually be finished, even if it takes a long time. I don't like to leave stories I've posted unfinished. So anyway, hope you enjoy.**

Patrick dropped the two of them off outside the Library of Congress where they met up with Abigail and Riley.

"Where do we start?" Abigail asked. "XY is the book classification code. Stands for special collections, which means very special books" "Very, very, special books. Where are they?" She added. "This way. We'll sneak in." Abigail led them towards the back where they were lucky enough to snag the door behind an employee. They then heading upstairs to the third floor. "Here we go. XA... XM..." Abigail reached out and tried to open the door but it was locked. "Look. Do you have a code?"

Ben reached around her and punched in the four digits. The door opened and they hurried inside, fanning out. Now she was gonna have some fun. Walking straight over to the place where the book was hidden she pointed upwards at the two books between the spot. "Over here."

They hurried over and Ben looked to where she was pointing. "It's not there."

"Maybe someone checked it out." Riley mumbled.

"Why send us here if there's no book?" Abigail wondered.

"He probably wanted us to get caught." Riley rationalized.

"Oh hold your horses you two." She said and pulled the ladder over, climbing up a few steps. "Here" She began piling books in Riley's arms and soon uncovered the lock. "Six dial combination lock."

Ben and Rachel looked at each other excitedly. "The location is the combination."

"What did you say the number was?" She asked.

"Two-three-four-seven-eight-six."

She reached up and put in the numbers. There was a small click and the panel dropped down to reveal the book. She grinned from ear to ear and gingerly pulled it out and handed it to Ben.

"I was right." Riley said in complete surprise and happiness.

"Well done Mr. Poole." Ben congratulated.

He then unwound the string that closed the book and opened it, balancing it on one hand as he put on his glasses and flipped through the pages.

"Area 51!" Riley said, pointing to the page as it passed.

"Shh!" She snapped.

"The Kennedy assassination!"

"Riley, we don't have time." She snapped once more. Then Ben turned another page and a picture caught her eye. "Ben...Ben, Stargate! I see a Stargate, Ben!" She squealed softly, trying to get him to turn back to the page.

"No time." He shushed. "Ah, found it." Ben said, beginning to read out the page. "April 1865. Queen Victoria sends Pike two coded missives. The first is received. Contains information regarding New World treasure. The City of Gold."

"Wait. The queen wanted to help the Confederacy?" Riley asked.

"A divided America would have been weaker." Abigail explained.

"And they needed cotton from the south." Ben then continued reading. ""The second missive was thought to contain a Playfair cipher suggesting contact with Laboulaye, who'll hide clues before his death." The cipher written into the Booth diary page that Thomas tried to burn."

"The one we have." Riley said.

" Exactly. "1880." Resolute desk arrives in Washington, sent by queen to President Hayes." He turned the page and took out an old sepia photograph. "Look at that."

"The missing plank from the White House. Wow." Abigail took the picture.

"Here's the final entry by President Coolidge.

"1924. I found a plank in secret desk compartment. Plank photographed and then destroyed. Borglum commissioned to destroy landmarks in sacred Black Hills mountains."

By this time Rachel had recovered enough to participate in the ongoing adventure. "Borglum. Mount Rushmore?"

Abigail looked confused. "Okay, she's doing it to me now, that's really creepy."

"He carved Mount Rushmore to erase the map's landmarks in order to protect the City of Gold."

"Mount Rushmore was a cover-up." Riley mused.

"It sounds like you have a new book in the works my dear man." She said, clapping him on the shoulder.

Suddenly, the sound of police sirens filled the air and Riley rushed to the window. "There's my tax dollars at work, coming to arrest me."

"Not coming for you, they're for me. Go to the car."

"For once I'm not going to correct him."

"Go! I'll meet up with you." He urged.

Abigail grabbed her and Riley by their sleeves and pulled them out of the room and downstairs. She took them behind the front desk and down through the basement to the parking garage where two security guards stopped them, nearly sending the three into cardiac arrest.

"Hold it! Who are you?" One of the guards demanded.

"We work here." Abigail said quickly, pulling out her ID and shoving it in the man's face. "Here. We were told to evacuate. My car's parked in that special section for..."

The guards waved them through. "Go ahead."

"Thank you for your help, officer. Best of luck." Riley called as the two left and they headed down the steps to the car.

They climbed in, Rachel tactfully avoiding the drivers side at all costs and getting into the back seat. Working as slowly as possible they buckled up while Ben climbed down to them.

"Start the car." Riley told her.

One of the security guards pointed his flashlight in. "What's the problem? It's clear. Let's go!"

"We're going to jail." Riley mumbled.

"Oi vey." She smacked her head against the headrest.

Abigail threw the car into gear and pulled out, catching the guard off balance. She hit the button for the back hatch and it opened, giving Ben room to climb in. Running, he jumped into the back of the car. Rachel grabbed the collar of his jacket and heaved. Once his feet were clear Abigail closed the hatch. The car bounced hard as it exited the garage and a cop car was following quickly as they neared the barricade.

"Abigail, punch it!" She yelled as three heavy cylinders began to rise to block of their escape."

"I don't think so!" Abigail snapped as she rammed her foot to the ground, them barely missing the barricade. The cops behind them weren't as lucky.

"That did not turn out the way it was supposed to!"

"Ya think?" Rachel said as Ben climbed into the back seat.

"How'd they find us so quick?" Abigail wondered.

"I'll tell you how. The president is a tattletale!" Riley said, annoyed and stressed out.

"Sadusky. He was there. He knows more about the book than I thought." Ben told them.

"Seatbelt." She reminded him.

"Huh?"

"Seatbelt. The way this ride is going, if you're not wearing one the cement may be wearing you within a matter of minutes and I don't think it will look good in your suit."

Ben nodded and sat back, putting it on.

"How'd the president feel about being kidnapped?" Abigail asked them.

"He was okay." The two replied.

**Not my favorite chapter so far I must admit. It doesn't seem like much happened for Rachel to work with. Well, except for the Stargate thing of course :) I've had that planned since I started writing this sucker. I hope you enjoyed it none the less. I certainly won't wait this long to post chapter ten. Namarie my dear readers. Without you there would have been no sequal and and I probably never would have finished Technical Glitch. Arg, nearing two am. I get so poetic and thoughtful at this time of morning. I think I should stop now before I pass out at my keyboard due to exhaustion. **


End file.
